Sony concluded the press day preceding the official opening of CES with a press conference that lined up reporters and writers waiting for admittance for almost a city block. The display area was filled way beyond capacity. Fortunately, Sony Electronics President Fujio Nashida kept his remarks brief, focusing on the company's overall strategy rather than a laundry list of new products.

What can you get from a single box not much larger than a DVD player with three small drivers firing forward and a woofer port firing rearward? If the box is the Zvox 315 Sound Console, you get more sound than you might think - full, wide stereo and a surprising amount of surround sound.

There's no question that the sophistication of today's home theater - with anywhere from six to eight speakers - can take a toll on your décor. And if you're putting together a serious system, chances are you won't be able to simply unpack your new gear and enjoy a movie the same night without some help.

Late on Day Two, JVC demanded that the entire press corps troop across town from the Convention Center to the Mandalay Bay hotel, where it was exhibiting privately - not officially a part of CES. However, the trip paid off in an impressive array of new and innovative products.

Picking the right home theater system can be a lot like picking the right horse at the track - especially if you're looking for a complete system in a single package. Manufacturers are flooding the market today with low-end home-theater-in-a-box (HTiB) systems that cheap out on the thrills and chills.

While the satellite speakers in Mirage's Nanosat system aren't actually made with cutting-edge nanotechnology, they are extremely small by any ordinary standard - less than 6 inches high and just over 4 inches wide and deep.